Persona: Reincarnation
by archangel77
Summary: Just like the title says; a reincarnation. Few have the chance to make things right, fewer are given a second chance. Persona 3 with a few personal twists. Chapters are soon to come. Please read and review, i like hearing feedbacks *I dont own persona.
1. Prologue

Persona:

Reincarnation

There are some things in this world that exist, but cannot be fully explained. Time, space, the reason for existing; they're all things that fall under this category. Some of them have hypotheses, but nobody can say for certain. Because they are not fully understood, is it wrong to assume that they have boundaries? That there's a limit as to what can, and can't be manipulated? If you ask most people they'll tell you that yes, there is a limit. Time cannot simply be reversed or fast forwarded, space can't go on forever, and the reason for existence can't be explained in mere words. But there are some that do believe that these things are limitless, that there is no defining answer to any of these things. Why there are few that believe, there are even fewer who live to see the answers, but in this case, there was one…

"Ahhh…this is…interesting…" A man mumbled. This man was a short, elderly man, with a rather long nose and bulging bloodshot eyes.. Igor was his name. He stood up from his chair at his desk, and placed his hands together as he walked around the Velvet room. He was dressed in a black suit, and he wore white gloves. The Velvet room was a small, circular type room whose appearance was that of an elevator, and was decorated in a blue velvet lighting. A place that is located between the conscious and the subconscious, only granting access to those whom are chosen.

"To be a Fool…so…interesting. Is the fool the beginning of a cycle? Or is it the end? A question that to this day, I can't answer. To have nothing, but the ability to have everything, it's so…wonderful." Igor brought his motion to a halt and looked to his assistant, Elizabeth. The girl with piercing yellow eyes, and short white hair looked to him. She was wearing a blue dress that resembles a stewardess's outfit with five black lined circles outside small yellow circles. She also has on blue gloves, a blue attendant-like hat, black leggings and blue, knee-length boots.

"Can you sense it?" He asked her as a smile crept upon his face. Her silence satisfied as an answer. Igor let out a chuckle as he made his way back to his desk. He sat down, and rested his chin upon his hands that were interlaced together. He closed his eyes as he began to speak again. "The sands of time continue to fall through the space in the hourglass of life, but it would seem like the hourglass has been flipped, and now we start from the beginning yet again." Igor let his voice fade away as though he was getting lost in thought.

"I'm afraid that I don't understand," Elizabeth mumbled as she continued to try and ponder the words Igor had spoken.

"All will be explained in time my dear, but for now, let's welcome our guest. It's not often we get visitors." Igor put a smile on his face as he started out in front of him. Elizabeth turned her attention to the direction that he was facing. Although she couldn't see any physical being there, she could slightly sense something. She was uncertain of what it was, but something about this presence seemed familiar.

"Welcome to the Velvet room. My name is Igor; it's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance. As a bearer of the wild card, you have peaked my interest. Although I see you as one, I can feel the presence of two. A rather special case indeed. I will need to draw you up a contract, but remember," There was a pause in his sentence as he stopped to inhale deeply. "Assume responsibility for the choices you make. Never have I seen this before, so I'm looking forward to what lies ahead." As he ended his sentence the door to the Velvet roomed opened. "Until we meet again…" Igor's voice trailed off, and after a few seconds, the Velvet room door slammed shut.

"That presence…" Elizabeth mumbled softly, but it was loud enough for Igor to hear. In response to her, he only let out a light chuckle.

"Quite interesting indeed…"


	2. Chapter 1 The Beginning

Chapter One

The Beginning

The train roared across the rails as it made its way through the night, carrying only a few passengers as it was approaching the late night hours. Most people at this time of night were ready to call it a day and crawl into bed, but for others, it was only the start of their day as they worked through the night and into the early morning. This was not the case though for one of the passengers. A transfer student that was moving into the Iwatodai dorm in the city after the death of their parents ten years ago. They sat quietly in their seat as the ride continued to push forward, luckily they had their MP3 player with them, which made the ride go a little faster. Upon looking out the window, the student noticed a rather odd, blue butterfly that was flying off into the sky, up towards the moon. The moon on this night was half full, but it still managed to light up the sky with its beautiful shine. The half-moon was always an interesting phase, as it showed the clash between light and darkness, sometimes the light would be pushing the dark away, leading to a full moon, and sometimes the dark would push the light back, resulting in a new moon. These thoughts filled the head of the student as the train began to slow down.

"We're sorry for the delay, but we'll be stopping at Iwatodai station soon. Please…" They stopped listening after the stop was announced. They stood from their seat and stretched out their arms, letting out a small yawn. It had been a long day.

Soon the train came to a halt, and the doors opened They grabbed their backpack and stepped outside of the train, and into the light of the moon with nothing but their MP3 player playing music, and their backpack over their shoulder. They looked around, trying to find some kind of direction, but suddenly, something inside them told them to start walking north. Unsure why, they listened to their instincts, and began to head north. The lights of the city were dim, but you could still see where you were walking. It was a quiet town, not a whole lot that went on at night, well for most people anyways.

After walking for a bit, they eventually stumbled upon a dorm. It stood about four stories tall, and looked rather new. There was a few lights that were turned on from the second floor, but there were hardly any on the first. The third and fourth floors were dark though as well, but that wasn't very strange. People were probably sleeping. Slowly, the student opened the door and let their eyes peer around inside. When nobody was present, they slipped inside, letting the door close behind them.

"Hello…?" They mumbled, their eyes still peering around the inside of the building.

"Hello." A light, childish voice spoke back. They turned their head to the front counter of the dorm, and there standing behind it, was a small boy with flat, black hair. His bright blue eyes contradicted his appearance. His eyes looked happy, but his outer appearance was dark and gloomy. His skin was pale, and he was dressed in a pair of black and white horizontal striped pants, and wore a matching shirt, almost like a prison outfit. The student jumped back a little at the sudden appearance of the boy, but they quickly regained their composure and walked towards the counter. The boy walked towards the counter, and opened up a small book.

"Please, sign your name on this contract. Don't worry, it's just saying that you'll accept all responsibility for your actions, you know, the usual." The boy let out a small laugh as the student made their way to the counter. With the book open, and a large line awaiting their signature, they picked up the pen that was lying next to the book. Without hesitation, they signed their name on the line.

Minako Arisato.

The auburn haired girl watched as the boy picked up the contract she had just signed, and then right before her eyes, the contract vanished. The boy stepped out from behind the counter, and made his way towards the other side of the room, the side that wasn't lit up from the light outside. Her paleish white skin, and piercing red eyes made her stand out in the room. The boy extended out his hand to her as the darkness of the room engulfed him.

"You can't plug your ears or close your eyes from this…" He mumbled, looking into the emotionless eyes of the charming girl that stood before him. "And so it begins." And with that, just like the contract had done, the boy vanished as well, leaving no trace that he was ever there.

"W-who's there?" A rattled voice said from the hallway of the main floor, near the stairs. Minako turned her head to find a girl that had short brown hair and brown eyes. She had on a long sleeve pink shirt that had a red ribbon on the front, she was also wearing a short black skirt. She also had on knee-high boots. For some reason, her appearance seemed familiar, but she had no memory of her, she had never met her before, or even seen her, but there was something about her…that reached out to Minako. Minako was looking into her eyes, but she could also see that her hands were shaking as she reached for what appeared to be a gun that was in a holster strapped to her thigh. She was breathing heavily, and had a few beads of sweat running down her forehead. Her hands moved like lightning as she reached for the gun, but before she could pull it out, she heard a voice call out to her.

"Takeba, wait!" The voice yelled out. The girl released her hold on her gun as she turned her head to a girl who had long dark red hair that hung down to about her mid back, and a pair of dark red eyes that matched. She was dressed in a white long-sleeved button up shirt, she also had a red ribbon on the front of her shirt. Her skirt was slightly longer than the other girls, but it still had the black coloring. She had on knee-high boots as well, but hers had high heels.

"Senpai?" The brown haired girl spoke softly. She had obviously calmed down, since her hands had stopped shaking. The red headed girl walked past the other girl, and approached Minako.

"I didn't think you'd arrive so late. My name is Mitsuru Kirijo, I'm one of the students that live in this dorm." Mitsuru smiled at her warmly, giving off a sense of welcome.

"…Who is she?" The brunette asked, inching towards Mitsuru.

"She's a transfer student that's been assigned to this dorm, but it's only temporary. She'll eventually be moved to an all-girls dorm, but for now, she's staying with us."

"I-is it okay for her to be here?"

"I guess we'll see…" The brunette walked up towards Minako and stuck out her hand.

"Sorry about that scare a little bit ago, I'm Yukari Takeba. I live here as well." Minako reached her hand out as well and the two shook hands.

"U-uhm, was that a gun earlier?" Yukari and Mitsuru looked to each other, and then back to Minako.

"Uhm…well it's sort of like a hobby…well not a hobby but-" she was cut off by Mitsuru.

"Well you know how it is these days…it's for self-defense. It's not a real gun of course, but anyways, I'm sure you're exhausted. Yukari will show you to your room, if you have any questions, feel free to ask, otherwise, I'll see you tomorrow." Mitsuru flashed another smile to Minako, and then turned and proceeded up the stairs. Minako watched her leave, and then walked towards Yukari.

"So I assume you go to school around here?" Minako asked in an upbeat, happy like tone. Her voice was still soft, and very light. Yukari's eyes shot open as she realized that she was being spoken to.

"Oh, yeah I do. We'll be going to the same school, and we're also both second year students so you'll probably walk with me there tomorrow so I can show you around. I dunno what class I'm in yet, we'll have to check tomorrow." Yukari stopped her sentence as she turned and started up the stairs. Minako followed close behind her as they continued to talk.

"And the other girl?"

"You mean Mitsuru-senpai? Yeah she goes there too. She's a year ahead of us, and she's in charge of student council. She's pretty busy, so we usually never see her till night time."

"Well she seems like a pretty nice person. Does anybody else live here?"

"Akihiko-senpai lives here too, but he's probably out training. He's a senior as well, and a boxer at that. He's always looking for ways to improve on his skill, you know how boys can be," Yukari and Minako shared a laugh as they started up the second set of stairs to the third floor. They walked down the hallway, to the last room on the right, and then stopped outside the door. Yukari pulled a key out of her pocket and handed it to Minako.

"Here, this is the key to your room. Don't lose it, or you'll never hear the end of it…" Yukari let out a sigh as she finished her sentence. Minako chuckled a little.

"Personal experience?"

"Let's not talk about it," Yukari laughed. Yukari started down the hall to her room, but before walking in, she turned her head over her shoulder. "You should get some sleep so you can make sure you're ready in the morning so we can get there early, goodnight Minako." Yukari faced back towards her door and stepped inside. Minako watched Yukari slip away into her room, and then afterwards turned her attention back to her room. She unlocked her door, and stepped inside. After closing the door behind her, she suddenly felt a huge weight on her eyes, like she could pass out at any given second. She struggled to keep them open as she staggered over to her bed. Once she made it, she plopped down, resting her head on the pillow. She didn't pull the covers over her or anything, she just fell asleep right then and there.

As Minako slipped away into a deep slumber, a dream came to her. She felt like she was floating out in space, her body was weightless and she was just drifting along. She looked around, but she couldn't see anything, all she saw was darkness. Soon, some kind of figure appeared before her, but she could hardly make out what it was. It looked like it was a boy, and he looked like he was no older than her. She couldn't see his face, but his eyes were visible. They were a steel blue color, and they were looking at her. Minako couldn't bring herself to say anything, she could only watch as the figure started to drift away.

She suddenly opened her eyes and started to look around. She was no longer in her room, she was someplace that she had never been before. The room was small, and was giving off a blue velvet color.

"W-where am I..?" She mumbled, looking around the room. Her eyes met those of an elderly man with a large nose that was looking at her.

"Welcome back to the Velvet room," The man mumbled to her. He smiled at her, almost deviously.

"Welcome back..?" She looked around the room again, but she had no memory of it.

"Don't be alarmed, I will do you no harm. My name is Igor, I'm pleased to meet you. This is my assistant, Elizabeth. She is a residence here as well," Igor paused so Elizabeth could introduce herself.

"Pleased to meet you," Elizabeth said. Her yellow eyes seemed to glow as they looked at Minako. Minako looked at Elizabeth, and then to Igor. When she looked to Igor, something caught her attention. The contract she had signed at the dorm was now on the desk in front of Igor.

"Only those who have signed the contract are welcome here, henceforth you shall be welcome here in the Velvet room. You have a unique ability within you, and you will need my help to harness it, and I only ask one thing in return. You must abide by your contract, and assume responsibility for the choices you make. Do you understand?" The old man's voice sounded like that of a serpent as he hissed his words.

"I-I understand, but…what is this place? Is this another dream?"

"You could say that…while your real body is fast asleep in the real world, this place appears as a dream. But, you will come here of your own choosing sooner or later, here take this," Minako looked at his desk, and on it was a key. "A key to the Velvet room…until we meet again." As he closed his sentence, Minako could feel herself being pulled from the room, and soon, she was wide awake in her bedroom. She sat up out of her bed and looked around. She was definitely back, but where exactly did she go? What was the Velvet room? Was it even real? As she questioned herself, she felt something small and rigid in her right hand. She opened it up and inside was a small key, but upon looking at it, it vanished. Minako quickly shook her hand to try and shake off whatever just happened.

"I'm not even here for a day and I already think this place is weird…" Minako mumbled. She raised her arms over her head, and stretched. She let out a yawn, and then plopped back down onto her bed.

"Oh well, might as well get some more sleep while I can…" She let her voice trail off as she closed her eyes, starting to fall back asleep. She was almost out of it, when she heard a pound on her door.

"Hey Minako, it's Yukari! You should get ready soon, it's almost time to leave!" Minako opened her eyes slowly as she heard Yukari's footsteps walk away from her room.

"Dammit…" Minako mumbled, pulling herself out of bed. She put what hair she could in a ponytail, and straightened out her school uniform. Once she was finished, she left her room, and joined Yukari downstairs.

"There you are, you ready?" Yukari asked, slipping on her shoes. Minako smiled and nodded her head. She joined Yukari at the door, and slipped her shoes on as well.

"Are Mitsuru and Akihiko-senpai joining us?" Minako asked. The two walked out the door, and began making their way to class.

"No, they're usually there pretty early, especially Mitsuru-senpai. She's got so much to do, she doesn't have a choice. Akihiko will sometimes stick around for a bit, but usually not for too long."

"Oh well, maybe I'll get to meet him one of these days," Minako laughed as they made their way to the train station.

"You'll probably get to see him tonight, everybody is usually there during the evening. He's a pretty nice guy, I think you'll like him." Yukari smiled at Minako. Minako returned the smile, and then turned her head in front of her, and let her mind wander as she continued to walk. Soon they reached the station, and boarded the train for school. Minako pulled out her MP3 player and started to listen to music, trying to keep herself occupied for the ride, even though it was fairly short.

About ten minutes passed, and then they arrived at the school. They stepped off the train, and headed for the front gates. There were all sorts of students making their way into the building, some were just standing around chatting, others were walking around. Yukari and Minako stepped into the building. Minako was over taken by how large the school was, and the amount of students that were wandering about.

"Classroom assignments should be posted over here, come on," Yukari motioned Minako to follow her, and so she did. They made their way to a large bulletin that had on it people's names, and what class they were in.

"Let's see….looks like you're innn," Yukari drug out her voice as she scanned her finger down the list of names. "Class 2-F. And I am inn…classroom…2-F! Huh, well that's pretty convenient. The classroom is right up the stairs here and the first door on your left. Pretty simple to remember." The two girls started to walk away, when they heard somebody call out to Yukari.

"Hey, Yukari-san," The voice said. Yukari looked behind her to find a boy with short silver hair walking towards her. He was outfitted in the standard white long sleeve shirt, but he had a red sweater vest over his. He also had on black leather gloves, and a pair of black dress pants.

"Oh! Hey senpai," Yukari replied with a smile. The boy had a black jacket tossed over his shoulder as he approached them. He greeted Yukari, and then looked towards Minako.

"So, is this the new kid?" He asked. Yukari nodded her head.

"This is her." He extended his hand to her.

"I'm Akihiko Sanada, I live at the dorm with you." Minako slightly blushed a little as she stared into the eyes of Akihiko. There was an awkward pause before Yukari gave her a little nudge, snapping her back to reality.

"Oh, I'm Minako Arisato, nice to meet you."

"You as well. You guys heading to the opening ceremony assembly?"

"Oh shoot, I completely forgot! We should probably get going." Yukari turned around and started to walk away. Akihiko let out a sigh as he started to follow her.

"How do you forget the opening ceremony on the first day of class..?" He mumbled to himself. Minako giggled quietly as she overheard his comment, but she then proceeded to follow Yukari. She led them to the auditorium, and they made their way down towards the frond, They took their seats, and awaited the principal to give his speech.

As time ticked on, the principal made his appearance. He delivered the opening speech of the ceremony, and soon it was over and the students ended up in their homeroom. Yukari led Minako to class, and they took their seats. The desks were aligned in rows, with the horizontal ones being two desks next to each other, then a gap down the classroom, then two more desks, then a gap. The desks went back about 6 chairs, so Yukari took the desk in in the middle row, the second desk. Minako took the desk right behind her. She had just gotten settled in, when another boy approached her.

"Hey, haven't seen you around here before. You're kind of a cutie too," He flashed a smile at her. He was wearing a ball cap, but what little hair you could see was dark black. He had silver colored eyes, and had a goatee. He was wearing a black jacket with a blue collar undershirt, along with a pair of black dress pants with a black belt tied around his waist.

"Are you hitting on me?" Minako chuckled back. The boy blushed slightly as he waved his hands frantically back and forth.

"Wh-wh-what? Me? No no no no no, I'm just trying to be friendly is all, honest!" He paused and cleared his throat. "My name is Junpei Iori." He had his hand extended out to her. She shook it and replied, "I'm Minako Arisato."

"Minako huh? That's a cute name," Junpei leaned his elbow on her desk as he got close to her. Minako chuckled and rolled her eyes.

"There you go again…" A female voice grumbled. Junpei and Minako turned their heads to see Yukari walking towards them.

"Hey it's Yuka-tan!" Junpei replied with a smile.

"First day of class and you're already hitting on her? Geesh, at least try to control yourself," Yukari sighed and rested her hands on her hips.

"No it's not like that! I was seriously just being friendly! Honestly!"

"Uh huh, right," Yukari rolled her eyes as Junpei let out a sigh and hung his head. Minako laughed at the two bicker.

"So you girls live in the same dorm huh?" Junpei asked, trying to change the subject.

"Yeah, but I was told it's only temporary," Minako replied. Yukari looked to her, and then to Junpei. Junpei was about to say something else, but before he could the sound of the bell going off filled the room with noise. Junpei sighed and took a seat that was in the row next to Minako. Yukari returned to her desk as well. Only a few seconds passed before the teacher walked in.

"Good morning class, I'm glad to see you all here. I'm Mrs. Toriumi, I'll be your homeroom teacher, so let's get started. Today's lesson will be…" Minako spaced out as soon as the class started. She found herself looking out the window of the classroom, when a blue butterfly, the same she had seen last night, went flying by. She tilted her head as the butterfly flew upwards, but soon she was called upon.

"Minako, can you tell us what one of these is correct?" Minako quickly looked to the board and saw three sentences written upon it.

'Its wrong.'

'It's wrong.'

'It's, wrong.'

"Uhm…the second one," Minako replied confidently. The teacher put a smile on her face as she erased the other two.

"Very good." Minako sighed in relief and proceeded to slouch in her desk for the rest of the class. The morning classes were long and boring, but soon lunch time came around. Before they could leave the classroom, Yukari and Minako were stopped by Mitsuru.

"Hey Senpai," Yukari and Minako said in unison. Mitsuru greeted them with a smile, but it soon faded off her face.

"I can't chat long, but I just wanted to inform you that the chairman is going to be at the dorm tonight. He wants to meet our new resident." Mitsuru looked towards Minako.

"The chairmen?" Minako asked confused.

"Don't worry, he'll introduce himself, just…mind the awful puns." Yukari let out a heavy sigh. Mitsuru as well.

"I take it you've been the victim of these horrible puns?" Minako asked with a smile on her face.

"So much…"

"It's awful…" They both said in unison. The three of them shared a brief laugh, but then Mitsuru had to take her leave. Yukari and Minako waived goodbye, and made their way down to get something to eat. They ate their lunch, and then returned to their classroom where they finished out their day. After class, Minako met up with Yukari.

"Oh, hey," Yukari said smiling at her. "We should get back to the dorm if the chairman is going to be there." Minako nodded her head in agreement, and the two walked out of the classroom, and out the front doors of the school. They were about to leave school grounds, when they were stopped by Junpei.

"Hey, Mina-san! Yuka-tan!" Junpei shouted running towards them. The two girls stopped and looked back to him. He ran up to them and placed his hands on his knees.

"What's up?" Minako asked casually.

"Ugh…man…I need…to work out more…" Junpei gasped for breath between words. "Anyways, I didn't catch your number, and you know, I think that we should have each other's numbers since we're friends and all," Junpei started to get nervous towards the end, but all Minako did was laugh as she told him her number.

"Smooth Junpei…" Yukari sighed.

"Sh-shut up Yuka-tan!"

"Whatever…come on, let's go Minako." Yukari grabbed hold of Minako's arm, and pulled her away.

"Bye Yuka-tan! Bye Mina-san!" Junpei shouted, waving goodbye.

"Bye Stupei!" Minako shouted. Yukari let out a small chuckle before whispering to her,

"Junpei..."

"Junpei!" Minako quickly corrected herself. Junpei sighed and put his hands in his pockets.

"Stupei huh…why do I get the feeling of déjà vu?" Junpei mumbled as he walked away from the school.

Yukari and Minako boarded the train back to the dorm, talking about typical girl stuff on the way back.

When they got back to the dorm, Minako suddenly felt her eyes get heavy again. This feeling came out of nowhere, and took her off guard.

"Hey…Yukari I'm…I'm gunna take…take a nap," Minako struggled to say the words as she pulled herself up the stairs. Yukari watched her pull herself along.

"Are you okay?" Yukari asked, walking behind her on the stairs. Yukari put Minako's arm over her shoulder and helped her up the stairs.

"Yeah I'm just…just tired. I think I'm gunna take a nap…wake me when the chairman gets here." Minako was struggling to keep her eyes open at this point. Her legs felt like they were going to collapse underneath her as she kept climbing. Eventually they made it to her room, and she was able to get inside and get to her bed. Once she hit her bed, she passed out, and slipped away into dreamland again.

She was back into that void that she was in earlier, feeling like she was drifting through space. The shadow figure she had met before had been replaced by a much larger figure. This towering black figure was looking at her, with glowing red eyes and flowing short silver hair. As the figure started to slip away, she heard something whisper to her.

"Or..phe..us.."


	3. Chapter 2 Persona

Chapter Two

Persona

As the young girl's dream started to slip away from her, she tried to make sense out of the whisper she heard. Struggling to find meaning, she opened her eyes and awoke in the middle of the night. She sat up in her bed and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands.

"Hello again," A voice whispered to her.

"Hello," She replied back, still half asleep. It took her a few seconds before it hit her that somebody was at the end of her bed. When she saw him, she quickly scooted as far away from him as she could, and pulled her blanket up over her body, only showing her eyes. The boy at the end of her bed laughed as she distanced herself from him.

"Ha ha, please, don't worry. I didn't think you'd be awake, so please forgive me if I scared you," The boy's voice sounded sincere as he wore a genuine smile on his face. This was the same boy that Minako had seen upon arriving at the dorm.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?" Minako asked, still startled by his sudden appearance. The boy stood up from her bed as he pondered her questions.

"To be honest, I'm not really sure who I am. You could think of me as a messenger if you want, but I don't think that's quite right." He smiled at her, his bright blue eyes locking with hers.

"Do I know you..?" She mumbled as she stared into his eyes. Something about his eyes seemed relaxing, like staring out into the ocean and listening to the sound of the waves.

"You might, but it's unlikely. My memory is broken, so I don't understand a lot of things, nor do I know a whole lot. But one thing I do know is that we'll meet again. I'll see you soon." And with the end of his sentence, the boy vanished before her eyes. The glow of his eyes stayed in her mind for a few seconds after he left. Minako released her grip on her covers and let them fall back down onto her lap. She let out a sigh as she repositioned herself on her bed, lying on her side facing towards the front of her door. She closed her eyes and waited a few minutes, but she couldn't get back to sleep.

"Maybe some music will help me sleep," She grumbled, reaching her hand out to the table that she had next to her bed. She grabbed her MP3 player, and strapped her red headphones over her ears. But something was wrong, her MP3 player wouldn't turn on. She smacked it a couple times and tried again, but to no avail. "It must need to be charged or something." She sighed as she placed it back down on her table. "_What time is it?_" She thought as she reached for her phone. She hit a button that was on the side of the pone, expecting the screen to pop up and reveal the time and date, but nothing happened. Holding the phone in her hand, she let her face drop and smack into her bed. She slowly picked it back up with an irritated look in her eyes. "You've got to be kidding me…" She grumbled as she put her phone next to her MP3 player.

Now completely demotivated, she slouched back down in her bed and tried once again to fall asleep. As she neared the point of passing out, she was awoken by the sound of her MP3 player blasting out a song. The sudden loud noise caused her to jump up in her bed again. Her heart racing, she quickly grabbed her MP3 player and turned it down. With the noise level returning to normal, she set it back down and grabbed her phone. She pushed the button on the side once again, and this time the screen popped up.

'12.01 AM. April 8.'

"Oh sure, now you all decide to work…ugh, I need something to drink," Minako groaned as she tossed her phone on her bed and stood up. She walked towards her door, and stepped outside. She made her way down the hallway, and towards the vending machine that was in the small lounge on the floor. She approached the vending machine and began to fish around in her pocket for some coins to insert. While she was searching, she turned her head and looked behind her when she heard the sound of multiple footsteps coming down the stairs from the floor above. Yukari, Akihiko, Mitsuru, and another man that was unfamiliar to her appeared walking together.

"Oh, you're awake!" Yukari said happily, showing a smile on her face. Mitsuru and Akihiko seemed to let out a sigh of relief, and then they too wore a smile on their face. Minako smiled back at them, and then turned her attention to the man that she didn't recognize. He was a middle-aged man, with long, wavy brown hair. He had a small goatee, and was wearing glasses.

"You must be Minako Arisato, it's a pleasure to meet you," The man walked towards her and extended out his hand. Minako accepted the hand shake, but she had a confused expression on her face. "Oh! My sincerest apologies, how rude of me, my name is Shuji Ikutsuki; I'm the chairmen of the board for your school." He smiled at her as he released her hand. Minako suddenly remembered that she was supposed to meet him that evening, but she must've slept through it.

"I'm sorry, I was supposed to meet you earlier, but I fell asleep when I got home. Somebody," Minako put heavy emphasis on the word as she looked to Yukari. "Was supposed to wake me up when you got here."

"I tried! We all tried actually," Yukari shouted back defensively.

"You did?" Minako's voice fell quiet as she watched the others nod their heads in agreement.

"You actually gave us all quite the scare, because for a while there you weren't breathing. It was only momentary, but it worried us. Akihiko-senpai even-" Yukari was interrupted by Akihiko letting out a loud coughing noise.

"Shut up," Akihiko muttered in with his coughing sounds. Yukari chuckled slightly as she saw Akihiko's face turn a shade of red for just a split second.

"Anyways," She let the end of the word drag out for a second before she continued. "I'm glad to see that you're awake now. Do you feel better?"

"Yes, I feel fine. I have no idea why I was so tired earlier, but when I was sleeping I had these strange dreams…" Her sentence trailed off as she tried to remember what she had seen.

"Oh?" Ikutsuki raised an eyebrow, seeming interested in what she had to say.

"I don't know how to describe them, but I feel like something is trying to reach out to me." Minako scanned the faces of the other tenants of the dorm, and then looked back to Ikutsuki.

"That is strange indeed…" Ikutsuki mumbled. He rested his hand on his chin and closed his eyes as he pondered the thought. "Next time you have one of these dreams, try to listen closely, don't rely so much on your eyes as they will play tricks on you, but use your ears." Ikutsuki slowly opened his eyes, and focused them on Minako.

Yukari stepped closer to Minako, breaking her away from her conversation.

"Well, we should probably all get to bed. It's getting pretty late," Yukari said, stretching out her arms. Akihiko let out a yawn and nodded.

"I agree. Wouldn't want to start our new semester off on the wrong foot eh?" Akihiko started to make his way back down the stairs towards the second floor, floor. Even though Akihiko was the only boy living on that floor, it was still dubbed the boys floor. The third floor was the girls floor, since that's where Yukari's, Mitsuru's, and Minako's rooms were.

"Goodnight Senpai," Yukari and Minako said. Akihiko waved his hand over his head as he disappeared down the stairs. Yukari and Mitsuru headed for their rooms as well after saying goodnight to everybody. Minako went to do the same, but she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. It was Ikutsuki's.

"Could you wait just a second?" He muttered. Minako turned herself around and looked at him. She raised one eyebrow as if signaling him to continue. "I'm sure that they planned on telling you tomorrow, but just to be sure, I'd like it if you would return here tomorrow evening after school. I have some things I'd like to discuss with everybody." He grinned at Minako.

"Uhm, okay. I'll be here," Minako replied hesitantly. She wasn't sure why, but she felt uneasy around Ikutsuki. Something about him just made her skin crawl. He seemed like a genuine nice guy though, so it didn't really make sense as to why she felt this way.

"Excellent. Well, you should get some sleep; as they say, the early bird catches the bookworm!" Minako let out a sigh. This must've been what Yukari and Mitsuru were talking about. She watched as Ikutsuki took his leave and headed down the stairs, still slightly laughing at his pun. Once he was out of sight, she made her way back to her room. She closed the door behind her as she entered and tucked herself up in her bed. She let out a sigh, and then closed her eyes. As she slipped away into a slumber, she kept repeating the word "Orpheus" in her mind. It was what she had heard in her dream earlier, but what did it mean? It was all so strange. Hopefully she would understand eventually, but until then, she was left to wonder. Her breathing became lax as she drifted away, soon falling asleep.

The rest of the night was uneventful; there were no dreams that included any shadow figures, and none that included small old men with big noses. The next thing that Minako heard was the sound of her alarm going off. She groaned as she rolled over and turned it off. She pulled herself up in her bed and rubbed her eyes. Her head turned to her door as she heard the sound of somebody beating on it.

"Hey! It's Yukari, I'm getting ready to leave; will you be okay getting there by yourself?" Minako picked herself up off her bed and walked to her door. She opened it up, and hers eyes met those of Yukari's. Minako's eyes were still nearly half closed as she was still struggling to wake up. Yukari tried to hold in her laughter as she looked at the groggy Minako.

"Good morning Yukari," Minako said smiling at her. "I'm sure that I look lovely; I'm not much of a morning person. You can go ahead and leave, I'll be fine."

"Alright, well if you get lost just call me. See you at school!" Yukari turned away and began to head down the stairs. Minako closed the door to her room, and let out a sigh as she got herself ready for school. She straightened up her uniform, and then fixed her hair. She grabbed her MP3 player, and slid it into her pocket, letting the headphones hang from her neck. Once she was ready, she left her room and started down the stairs. She was about ready to walk out the front door when she heard a voice call to her.

"Hey, wait up," The voice said. Minako turned her head to see Akihiko walking towards her.

"Oh, senpai, I didn't know you were still here," Minako replied smiling at him.

"Normally I'm not, but I had a late start this morning." The sliver haired boy walked in front of Minako and stepped outside, keeping the door open for her. She stepped outside with him, and he let the door go. The two made casual small talk as they boarded the train and headed for school.

"Oh, the chairman wants us all at the dorm tonight, he's got some stuff to discuss with us or something," Akihiko said.

"Yeah, he mentioned something to me last night about it."

"Oh, he did? Well if you already know then I don't need to remind you."

"But you just reminded me..?"

"…That's not the point." Akihiko and Minako shared a laugh together as the train came to a stop. The two exited the train and headed for the school. They didn't make it two steps onto school grounds before a flock of girls came running up to Akihiko.

"Akihiko-senpai!" They all shouted.

"Not again…" Akihiko grumbled. "I'll catch you later!" Akihiko took off running, cutting right through the group of girls that stood in front of him.

"Wait Senpai!" The girls took off running after him, all except one. This girl was a rather short girl, and she had long black hair that was tied up in a ponytail. She had light green eyes, and was dressed in the girl's uniform.

"Did you come here with Senpai?" The girl asked softly. She hung her head bashfully as she asked the question. Minako looked at the girl for a second before replying.

"I did, but that doesn't mean anything. We just happen to be leaving the dorm at the same time so I kept him company." Minako put a smile on her face as she continued to stare at the girl who was now blushing.

"Y-y-you're dorm mates?" She stuttered. Minako's expression changed to confused as she watched the girl start to shiver a little.

"Are you o-" Minako was cut off when the girl turned around and sprinted away from her. "Well that was strange," She muttered to herself. Minako continued walking towards the school, making her way to her classroom. When she stepped inside she was greeted by a few of the students from her class, and then she met up with Junpei who was standing in the lobby of the school by himself.

"Hey Junpei," Minako said walking up to him. Junpei turned his head over his shoulder and smiled at her as his eyes met hers.

"Oh hey Mina-tan," He replied.

"What're you doing?"

"Just standing around. There really isn't a lot to do before class except chat with other people."

"Oh, well you must've been having a nice conversation with yourself then." Minako let out a small chuckle as Junpei blushed a little.

"S-shut up! I just got here a few minutes ago!"

"Well no matter, we should get to our classroom, I'm sure Yukari is already there." Minako started to head towards her class, and Junpei followed behind her.

"You and Yuka-tan didn't come together today?" Junpei asked her.

"Not today, she was up and ready before I was so she just went on ahead and came here early. It wasn't so bad though, Akihiko-senpai came with me instead." Junpei slowed his steps as he hung his head.

"Akihiko-senpai huh? He always gets all the girls…" Junpei mumbled the last part of his sentence, but Minako could still understand what he said.

"What was that?" She asked innocently looking over her shoulder. Junpei jumped back to normal and sped up his pace so that he was walking next to her.

"N-nothing!" Minako chuckled as they two of them stepped inside their classroom.

The room was starting to fill up with students as class was a few minutes away from starting. Yukari, Minako, and Junpei made small talk as they waited for class to begin

"Hey, the sports teams will be starting up again soon. Are you doing archery still Yuka-tan?" Junpei asked.

"I planned on it. I've been taking it for a while now, so I see no reason in stopping. What about you Minako? If you have the time I recommend joining a team, it can be a lot of fun as long as you can put in the effort." Minako moved her eyes up towards the ceiling as she pondered the question.

"I guess I never really thought about it, but I should look into it. What about you Junpei? Do you do any sports?"

"Huh? Me? Well I thought about joining the swim team this year but…" Junpei paused his sentence. "…I dunno, I'll have to think about it some more."

"You? A swimmer? Ha! Now that would be a sight." Yukari smiled and laughed as she teased him.

"Tease me all you want, but I know deep down you'd love to see in those swim suits." Junpei winked at Yukari and smiled. Minako and Yukari both shuttered a little.

"That's an image I could've gone without…" Yukari sighed. Junpei laughed at her. They continued to talk for a couple minutes, but soon the bell for class had rung and everybody took their seats. The teacher walked into the room and started the class right away, wasting no time at all. All of the classes came and went, and soon it was the end of the day. Yukari had already taken her leave from the class, saying she had something to do before she went back to the dorm, so it was just Minako and Junpei who exited together.

"H-hey Mina-tan, do you have a second?" Junpei stuttered as he asked. Minako looked at him in the eyes as they continued to walk down the hallway.

"What's up?"

"I-I was just wondering if you were free later? Maybe we could go catch a movie or something?" Junpei was trying not to shake as he spoke. Minako smiled at him before shaking her head.

"I'm sorry, I can't today. I've been requested to go back to the dorm after school, but maybe some other time? You have my number, you can always text me whenever." Minako's voice was so kind and friendly as she spoke.

"Oh, that's okay…I guess I'll see you later then?" Junpei sounded disappointed as he let his eyes drop a little.

"See you tomorrow," Minako waved goodbye as she headed out the front doors of the school. Junpei waved goodbye as well, but he stuck around the school, turning around and heading back down the hallway. Minako stepped outside and into the sun. She looked up to the blue sky; its lack of clouds made the moon slightly visible if you looked hard enough. She couldn't tell because it was practically invisible, but it looked like it was going to be full tonight.

She made her way back to the dorm, doing a little homework on the train ride back. Once she was back, she stepped inside and let the doors close behind her. Mitsuru and Akihiko were already there, sitting on the couches in the lounge.

"Welcome back," Mitsuru said greeting her. Minako smiled at her, and then joined Akihiko on the couch. Minako looked around and noticed that both Yukari and the chairmen were absent.

"Where are the other two?" Minako asked.

"Takeba will be here shortly. As for the chairmen, he's already here, he's just up on the fourth floor right now, taking care of some things," Mitsuru replied. Minako leaned back on the couch and pulled out some of her school books so she could finish her homework and study a little. Akihiko peered over her shoulder and let out a small chuckle.

"Heh, I remember doing that last year. Good luck with that class by the way," Akihiko told her, placing his hand on her shoulder.

"It's not so bad, at least not yet," Minako replied with a smile.

"I know that they try to change it up each year but this guy is really bad at that. He likes to do the same thing each year, mainly because it's so difficult that you can't cheat your way through it and expect to pass the final."

"Don't scare the poor girl," Mitsuru said, intervening in their conversation. Mitsuru looked to Minako who had a terrified look on her face. "I'm sure you'll do just fine. Just stick to your studies and pay attention and you'll pass, the same goes with your other classes." Akihiko nudged Minako on the shoulder, breaking her from her trance.

"Yeah, I'm just giving you a hard time. I have to abuse my senior power somehow, so why not torment the younglings?" Akihiko put a sarcastic smile on his face. Minako chuckled a little before trying to focus again on her books. She got through a couple problems, but her focus was broken when the front doors opened.

"Hey, sorry I'm late," Yukari said, making her way to the lounge. She took a seat next to Mitsuru and looked around. "Where's the chairmen?" Mitsuru stood up from the couch, and began to walk away.

"He's up on the fourth floor. I'll go and inform him that we're all here." Mitsuru disappeared up the stairs as the others continued to sit around and wait. A few minutes had passed before she returned alone, poking her head out from the bottom of the stairs.

"Akihiko, Takeba, can you come up here for a second?" She asked, her voice was slightly rattled. Akihiko and Yukari looked to each other and then stood up from their spots.

"We'll be back," Akihiko told Minako, who still had her nose buried in her books. She mumbled something that sounded like "Okay", and Akihiko and Yukari headed up the stairs. Upon reaching the fourth floor, they headed into a rather large room that had a lounge set up similar to the lobbies. There were two couches facing each other with a table in the middle of them, and two chairs on the other ends. Along the left side of the wall there was some kind of machine that had a lot of monitors sprouting from it. There was a chair in front of it, and that's where Ikutsuki was sitting.

"Thank you for coming up here. I'm sorry that I haven't been downstairs, but last night when we had our encounter with Minako, I got a little curious and started looking at the recording from the Dark Hour." Ikutsuki pushed the play button on the recording, and it revealed Minako sleeping in her bed peacefully. "All seems fine and well, until the dark hour is getting ready to end. Watch." Akihiko and Yukari focused their attention on the screen. Things continued to stay calm in Minako's room, until suddenly she quickly shot up in her bed and yanked her sheets up over her body. It looked like she had been scared by death.

There was nothing else in her room though, it was just her. She continued to stay scrunched up at the tip of her bed for a minute or two, before finally relaxing and letting the sheets fall back down to her bed. She was getting ready to reach over to her table, when the screen went black.

"W-what happened to the screen?" Yukari asked, her voice slightly shaking. Everybody remained silent for a second as Ikutsuki paused the video.

"I assumed at first that there maybe was a malfunction in the system, but right as I was getting ready to close the video, I noticed this." Ikutsuki resumed the video. It remained black for a few more seconds, before a loud static noise was heard and then flashing on the screen was a picture of a skull and crossbones. Ikutsuki slowly turned around in his chair and looked into the eyes of the others. Yukari and Akihiko were stunned as they continued to look at the screen. Mitsuru was also at a loss for words.

"W-what is that supposed to mean?" Yukari asked.

"I have no idea, but it's probably best if we all stay around here tonight. We should also keep a close eye on her, just in case," Ikutsuki replied.

"Should we tell her?" Akihiko asked, a hint of hesitation was in his voice.

"Not yet, let's wait a little longer." Yukari looked to Mitsuru and then to Akihiko. They all nodded their heads in agreement.

"Well, I didn't mean to scare you all. We should get downstairs, I'm sure Minako is getting impatient," Ikutsuki stood up out of the chair and started to head towards the door, with the others following behind him. They all made their way down the stairs, and wandered back into the lobby where Minako was sitting on the couch, still reading her book.

"Sorry about that," Ikutsuki said, taking a seat in one of the chairs. Akihiko, Mitsuru, and Yukari all reclaimed their seats from earlier. Minako raised her head up from her books and looked at everybody.

"Oh it's okay, I needed to finish up my assignment anyways." Minako smiled and put her stuff back in her backpack.

"Alright then, well let's get right to it shall we? Tonight's discussion isn't that important, but it is something that I needed you all here for. As you know, Minako is staying in this dorm temporarily, but as it would seem, all of the other dorms are full this year. So I need to ask everybody, first off you Minako, would you like to become a permanent resident of this dorm?"

Minako looked into the eyes of the other tenants of the dorms, and they all looked back at her. They all smiled at her, as if welcoming her to stay.

"I really like everybody that lives here; so far they've all been really nice to me. So if it's alright with them, yes I would love to continue to stay here." Ikutsuki then looked around the room to the others.

"Well there's her answer, now what do all of you think?" Akihiko was first to step up.

"She's welcome here in my book," He said smiling at her.

"She's already one of my friends, so I see no reason to make her leave," Yukari added. Mitsuru was the last one to speak.

"If she wants to stay with us then we will happily accept her."

"Then it's settled. As of now you will be a permanent resident of this dorm." Ikutsuki started clapping his hands, and the others joined him. Minako smiled at everybody and then stood up off the couch.

"Thanks guys." She bowed her head, and then turned to Ikutsuki.

"Unfortunately that's all I had to ask, so you guys are free to do whatever you want now." Ikutsuki let out a small chuckle. Minako walked back over to the couch and grabbed her backpack.

"Alright, well I'm going to go set my backpack down in my room, and then see if I can get ahold of Junpei; he said something about wanting to…" Minako's voice started to trail off and she started to stumble as she walked. "Wanting to…"

"Are you okay?" Yukari quickly rushed over to her and caught her just as she was about to fall. "This is what happened yesterday…she just passed out for no reason. She said it was because she was tired, but this is too sudden to be blamed on just tiredness. I'm worried about her."

"Let's just take her to her room and let her rest, it could just be side effects. It would make sense." Ikutsuki replied. Akihiko came over and assisted Yukari in carrying Minako. They took her up to her room and laid her down on her bed. Yukari pulled the blanket over her, and then they left the room.

Minako opened her eyes, but she knew that she must've been dreaming as the scene around her was familiar. She looked ahead of her, and this time both of the shadow figures from before appeared in front of her. They were still dark figures, but their eyes were visible. The tall one had red eyes, and the boy looking one had blue. She remembered what Ikutsuki had said earlier about listening to her surroundings rather than viewing. She closed her eyes and began to listen, concentrating on the things around her.

"-pheus…" She heard a voice whisper. It sounded like a man's voice so she assumed it was the shadow figure that looked like a boy. Minako tried to speak, but she couldn't find her voice, so she continued listening.

"Thou art I…and I am thou…" The other voice said. Its voice almost sounded robotic. Minako was still trying to make sense of what both these figures were saying when a loud sound came beating on her door.

"Hey! Get up! It's Yukari, we need to go!" Yukari's voice sounded urgent. "Come on! Get up! Ugh, I'm coming in!" Yukari slammed open Minako's door, causing her to sit up in her bed. Her vision was still blurry as she tried to wake up.

"Yukari..?" Minako asked, her voice still sleepy.

"No time to explain, we need to move, now! Here, take this," Yukari paused and tossed her a naginata. "Just in case." Minako looked at her weapon with confusion, and then looked to Yukari.

"What is going on?" Minako asked desperately.

"I'll tell you later, come on! We need to hurry before-" Yukari stopped her sentence short as she looked out the window of Minako's room. On the outside of the window was a black figure with multiple arms sprouting from it. This black figure was actually in the shape of a blob, and most of its arms were holding swords, all of them except one. That one was holding a mask with the letter I engraved in it. The mask was a plain blue mask that looked like it was smiling. Minako turned her head and followed Yukari's line of sight.

"Ahh!" Minako let out a high pitched girl scream when she saw the figure outside her window.

"Let's go!" Yukari shouted, turning around and running. Minako ran behind her. They made their way to the end of the hallway, and stopped when they got to the vending machine.

"W-what was that?" Minako asked, her voice trembling.

"It's what we call a shadow."

"A shadow?"

"Yes. Shadows are like-" Yukari was interrupted by a loud beating sound coming from the downstairs.

"Takeba! Can you hear me? It's Mitsuru!" Mitsuru's voice could be heard from a communicator that Yukari was wearing, it was like an earpiece.

"Y-yes I can hear you!"

"The one that Akihiko and I are fighting isn't the one that Akihiko had seen earlier. I need you to get to the roof…you'll be…until we…" Mitsuru's voice was breaking up.

"Senpai! Senpai! Damn, the connection is going bad. Come on, we need to get to the roof," Yukari took off running towards the stairs. Minako again followed behind her. They ran up the steps until they reached the top. They ran out the door that led to the roof and Yukari slammed it shut behind them.

"Okay, I think we're safe," Yukari let out a sigh of relief as she turned to Minako. Minako's body was trembling as she raised her hand and pointed in front of her.

"Y-y-y-Yukari!" Minako stuttered as she looked in front of her. Yukari looked to the end of the roof where there was a shadowy black hand that was peering above holding a mask. A mask with the letter I sketched into it. Soon the other hands began to come up over the edge of the roof, revealing its body. Its body was nothing more than a blob, just like they had seen earlier. Yukari's hands were shaking as she reached for the gun that was strapped to her thigh.

"Okay, I can do this," Yukari mumbled to herself as she held it out in front of her, and had the barrel pointed at her head. She took in a few deep breaths, but before she could pull the trigger one of the hands lashed out at her, and smacked her to the ground, causing the gun to slide across the ground of the roof and stop at the feet of Minako. The black figure started to move towards the two of them. Minako felt like she was paralyzed as she looked at the mask of the figure. She went to take a step backwards when she felt the gun underneath her foot. She looked down to the ground, and back to the figure that was getting closer. Minako bent down and picked up the gun. When she picked the gun up, she felt a surge of energy rush through her. Images started flashing in her mind, one was of the boy that she had seen at the edge of her bed, he was smiling at her and looking at her with his bright blue eyes. The next image was of the boy that appeared to her in her dreams, but now he had body and a face. His hair was a dark blue, and his skill was a pale white color. His eyes were still the same steel blue color as before. He was looking away from her, and towards the shadow figure, with a gun pointed to his head. He was holding it with one hand to the side of his head, and he was smiling at the shadow. Minako's hand seemed to move on her own as she too brought it up to her head. As her finger began to pull the trigger she mumbled something under her breath.

"Per…so…na…" As she finished the word, she pulled the trigger, releasing a glass shattering sound. A swirl of blue light engulfed her, and her eyes began to shine red.

"Thou art I…and I am thou. From the sea of thy soul I come forth. I am Orpheus, master of strings," A new voice was saying. This creature that had been summoned by Minako was floating above her. It had long brown hair and a metallic body and white legs and arms. There were metal rods connecting the shoulders to the arms, and the same rods connecting the thighs to the knees. Its chest was golden with what looks like a speaker in the middle. It seemed to resemble that of a female body. It also had a giant heart shaped lyre on its back.

"Or..phe..us?" Minako mumbled as she looked to this creature that was above her. Yukari was also staring in awe as she looked at it. Orpheus floated down to the ground and pulled the lyre off of her back. She strummed one of the strings, and an explosion of fire occurred and hit the shadow that had been approaching Minako and Yukari. It let out a sharp yell, and began to spin the swords around it its hands rapidly. Orpheus took off charging towards the shadow, blocking away the arms with its lyre. Soon it was close enough to the shadow that it took the lyre and bashed it down on top of the shadows body. The hands seemed to flinch from the hit as the swords stopped swinging. Orpheus then swung the lyre like a bat and sent the shadow flying backwards, crashing into the edge of the roof. Orpheus reclaimed her spot by Minako's side as the shadow slowly started to stand back up. While Minako was focused on the shadow, she was unaware that Mitsuru and Akihiko had joined them on the roof and were currently standing over by Yukari. The shadow regained its form and let out a sharp cry, and then began to charge. It only took a few steps though, before the sound of a gunshot was heard and the shadow split in two and its body disintegrated instantly. The hands that were holding the swords fell to the ground limp, and the one that was holding the mask disappeared as well, letting the mask fall to the ground and slide a few feet, ending up next to one of the hands. Orpheus grasped her lyre and stood in front of Minako as something floated up from the roof.

"W-what is that?!" Akihiko shouted. Minako stared down the edge of the roof, and at a new creature that was making its appearance. It was wielding two long barrel revolvers, the barrels of the guns had to at least be four feet long. Its face was wrapped in bloody bandages, revealing only one ominous looking yellow eye. It had two steel chains going over its shoulders, making the form of a cross. Orpheus stared down this opponent, and without hesitation, strummed one of the strings on the lyre. The same fire blast hit the enemy, but nothing happened, it just shrugged it off. It raised the barrel of one of its guns, and aimed it at Orpheus. Minako turned her head to her, shouting, "Orpheus!"

The creature had pulled the trigger and the blast had sent Orpheus flying backwards and falling to the ground, and soon afterwards she had disappeared. Minako herself was brought to her knees, as if she could feel the impact as well. The creature was starting to hover towards them, the sounds of the chains rustled as it moved closer. Minako struggled to pull herself to her feet, and when she did she noticed that Akihiko and Mitsuru had ran up next to her, both of them pointing a gun to their head.

"Polydeuces!" Akihiko shouted, pulling the trigger.

"Penthesilea!" Mitsuru shouted as well; she too pulled the trigger. Two more creatures appeared, standing above their users. The one that stood above Akihiko sent out a small jolt of lightning at the creature, while the one that was above Mitsuru sent out an ice attack. The two attacks had about as much affect as Minako's attack did. The enemy shrugged off the hits and rose up both of its guns. It pulled the trigger and shot both Polydeuces and Penthesilea, causing both Akihiko and Mitsuru to drop down to the ground. Both of their creatures had vanished, and their users were gasping for breath.

"So…strong…" Akihiko muttered. Minako looked to her fallen teammates, and then she looked back to the creature. She felt another sudden surge of energy rush through her as she threw her hands to her head and let out a scream. She dropped to her knees once more, an opened her eyes as wide as they could go. She continued to scream as one of her eyes began to change from red to blue. She then stood back to her feet, and held the hand that had the gun in it at her side, and then stuck the other one out in the air, keeping her palm open. She waited for a few seconds, and then another gun materialized out of thin air in her other hand. Now with two in her hands, she put them both to her head, and rested her fingers on the triggers.

"Persona!" She shouted. Her voice was now a mixture of her voice, and somebody else's voice, somebody that was a boy. She pulled both triggers, and above her now stood the Orpheus that she has summoned earlier, and another creature that took the same form, except its body was built like a boy, and its hair was a short white color, and its eyes were piercing red. Its body was the same as the other Orpheus, except it's chest was a dark green color, and its connecting rods were more black than metallic. It even had a lyre on its back, except it was normal as opposed to a heart shaped one.

"Thou art us…and we are thou. Together we emerge from the sea of thy soul to create…" The two paused their sentence as they spoke in unison. They faced towards each other and placed their hand on the others. As they touched, a blinding white light flashed before everybody's eyes. When Minako finally opened her eyes, standing before her was yet a new Orpheus. Its chest was red, and its metallic body had evolved into a golden one. Its hair had changed to a short blond color, and its eyes were a real soft blue. It had a giant golden lyre on its back as well.

"I am Orpheus Telos, forged by the ultimate bond. Created by the, I shall stand by thy side," The creature said, its voice filled with determination. The enemy stopped in its tracks as it stared at the newly formed creature. Akihiko and Mitsuru pulled themselves to their feet and stared in awe. The enemy raised both of its guns, and fired at the newly formed Orpheus. The bullets seemed to bounce of the body of Orpheus. Orpheus let out what sounded like a laugh as it placed both of its hands on the lyre on its back. It pulled it off and brought it out in front of him. With one hand he held the lyre, and with the other he placed it on the strings. He let his hand slide down the strings, making a beautiful harmonious sound.

"Megidoloan…" Orpheus muttered. As it spoke those words, a light seemed to shine down from the sky. Minako for the first time had noticed that the world around her had been changed, the sky was giving off a greenish glow to the world below it, and even the moon gave off an eerie green glow. The moon seemed to be ten times larger as it hung brightly in the sky. The light from the sky came crashing down onto the enemy and sent out a massive shockwave after it hit. The creature let out a cry of pain as it began to fade away. As the attack finished, it ended in another blinding light.

When Minako opened her eyes again, the enemy was gone, and all that stood before her was Orpheus. It slowly put the lyre back onto its back, and started to walk toward the body of the shadow that had been killed by the enemy earlier. It bent down and picked up the mask that had fallen from it.

"Orpheus…?" Minako mumbled as she started to approach the massive creature that stood before her. Orpheus looked to Minako, and bent down so that they were on eye level.

"I shall be your guardian. Trust in yourself, and my power shall grow. I cannot hold this form however, I shall revert back to the Orpheus you had seen earlier. Fear not, for I know that we shall meet again, but only when you bear the mask of no color shall I return." Orpheus's words were soothing as he looked into the multi-colored eyes of Minako.

"The mask of no color..? How do I…?" Minako's voice started to grow weak as she felt her energy fade from her body.

"One step at a time," Orpheus's voice also stared to fade away, as well as his body, but not before he gave something to Minako. It was the mask he had picked up from the fallen shadow.


	4. Chapter 3 Confrontation

Chapter Three

Confrontation

Minako had slipped into unconsciousness after the battle on the rooftop, and now she was asleep in the bed of a hospital, left to let her mind wander. She was unaware of how long she had been asleep, or when she planned on getting up, but even though her body was unconscious she had full control over her mind. She could feel her subconscious body being pulled by something as she was floating towards a door.

"Greetings," And elderly voice hissed to her as she entered the room. This room was familiar, it was the Velvet room. "I know I said that next time we would meet it would be by your accord, but it seems that some very interesting events have unfolded." Igor was sitting at his desk as his bloodshot eyes were fixated on the red eyes of Minako. A smile crept upon his face as he intertwined his hands, his white gloves fitting together perfectly.

"Ugh…my head…" Minako grumbled as she placed one of her hands on her forehead. It felt like somebody was constantly smacking her in the forehead with the palm of their hand. It wasn't very painful, but it did hurt enough to be noticed.

"You seem to have slipped into unconsciousness after awakening to your power. It would appear as though Orpheus has heeded the calling…rather interesting indeed." Igor slowly pushed his chair away from his desk and began to walk up towards Minako. He reached out and grabbed hold of her right hand, and he cupped his own hands over top of it. Minako felt uneasy about Igor's sudden movement towards her, but she didn't say anything to him. For the first time that she could remember, Igor closed his eyes while still grasping her hand. His eyes were only closed for a couple seconds before there was a glass shattering sound that echoed throughout the Velvet room. Igor was pushed backwards violently by something, causing him to lose his balance as he fell through the air. Elizabeth, who had been standing quietly next to Igor's desk, moved quickly to catch him before he hit the ground. She caught him by the shoulders and helped him to his feet.

"Are you okay?" Elizabeth asked him. Igor brushed her hands off of his shoulders and then smiled towards Minako. Minako had also jumped out of her seat to try and help Igor, but Elizabeth was able to react slightly faster.

"Yes, yes I'm fine. Never before have I seen a connection so…strong." Igor chuckled as he made his way back to his desk.

"I- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-" Minako had started to say, but was interrupted by Igor.

"Please, don't apologize. It was my fault for snooping in the first place, your body just reacted naturally; there's nothing you can do about that." Igor replied. He regained his seat, and rested his elbows on his desk, interlacing his fingers again and resting his head on his hands. "If you would be so kind, could you answer a very important question for me?" Another smile crept up onto his face.

"I can try…" Minako was still apathetic for what had just happened.

"Do you know what this is?" As Igor asked the question he swiped his hands across the air in front of him, causing a blue card to appear out of thin air, the back facing towards Minako and the front towards Igor. Minako looked at the card for a second before her body responded.

"It's a Tarot card isn't it?" Minako recognized the shape and design from the card, even though she could only see the backside.

"Very good, now if you could do me yet another favor, please, place your hand on this card and then flip it over." Igor grabbed the card and placed it face down on the table. He then invited Minako over to his desk with a wave of his finger. Minako didn't object. She walked up to the desk and placed her hand on it. She waited a few seconds, and then the face of the card started to glow. The light bounced off the table as it tried to escape.

"Remarkable…" Igor mumbled as he leaned his head closer to the card. Once the card stopped glowing, Minako turned it over. Revealed on the side of the card was a picture of the creature that had saved her on the rooftop, the creature that the two Orpheus's combined to make. It was Orpheus Telos. Its body was drawn on the card, and below it was the number zero, and then below that, on the bottom of the card there was a word written. "Fool"..

"Orpheus…?" Minako whispered as she held the card in her hand. Igor had leaned back in his chair, and then pulled open a drawer from his side of the desk.

"For many years I have watched people come and go, and over the years I've collected special cards, cards that do not have pictures drawn on them. Blank cards that hold no significance, but for some reason I was compelled to keep them. And now, after all these years, they finally respond to your hand." Minako looked to Igor, very confused.

"What do you mean? Why do they react to me? How many do you have?" Minako fired off question after question, trying to get as many answers as possible before her time in the Velvet room ran out.

"Not even I know why they respond to your touch, nor do I know what significance they hold, but let's try another shall we?" Igor pulled out a small stack of cards from the drawer that he had opened earlier. He placed another one face down on the desk, and then slid it towards Minako. He looked at her, and then to the card, signaling her to repeat what she had done before. She placed her hand over the card, and then the same thing as earlier happened. There was a light that came from the face of the card. Once it faded, Minako flipped over the card, revealing something rather interesting. Drawn on this card was a picture of the shadow that had challenged them on the roof, she could tell because she recognized two things about it. One: all the hands with the swords; and two, the mask that it was wearing. She scanned her eyes down from the picture to the number. This card had the number I on it, showing that it was roman numerals rather than traditional, and then below that the word "Magician".

"This is definitely intriguing," Igor smiled deviously looking at the card that was on the table.

"This doesn't make sense," Minako groaned, placing her hands on her head.

"For once, I must agree. I do believe, however, that all will reveal itself it due time. You are the most interesting visitor I have ever had, so many things I've seen with you that I've never seen before. The power to duel wield persona's AND possess the wild card. To have the touch that awakens the cards, to be able to withstand even death itself like its nothing. So…very interesting."

"Persona..? Wild card? What are you talking about?"

"As it would seem, I got so caught up in other events that I forgot to tell you the main reason why I called you here. Forgive me my dear," Igor paused and lowered his head slightly, as if he was bowing an apology to her. He quickly raised his head back up and continued on. "That being, that power that you possess, it's called Persona; a manifestation of you inner psyche. You can think of your persona as a mask that will protect you through many challenges and trials that lie ahead."

"A mask..?" Minako mumbled, cocking her head slightly at Igor.

"Generally, A Persona is unique to the user, but as a bearer of the wild card you are not bound to one Persona, and that is my role in all of this. I shall help you create and fuse personas to create ones even more powerful. Using and harnessing this power is critical, but I have confidence in your ability; you'll be just fine my dear."

"I'm still confused…if a Persona is unique to the user, than how come there are three different Orpheus's? And why me?" Igor chuckled as he pondered Minako's questions around in his head.

"No Persona is identical, that I can tell you for a fact. It is very interesting how they all look similar, and how they all are connected…as for why it is you, well, I cannot say. You were chosen by fate with a specific role, a role that you must figure out for yourself," Igor paused and leaned back in his chair. "It seems that I've kept you here far past your time. You have my word that your next visit will be of your own free will. I shall let you return to your world, as time continues to march on. Take these cards with you, and remember, I'll be waiting for you…until we meet again." Igor's voice sounded like an echo as Minako could feel herself being pulled from the room. As she was being tugged out of the room, the cards that were on the desk floated in the air and shot out after her. The all swirled around her, and then one by one they seemed to phase into her, disappearing inside her body.

"Wait! I have more questions!" Minako tried to reach out to Igor, but she was falling away too fast. She was pulled out of the room, and the door slammed behind her.

After being evicted from the Velvet room, Minako found herself floating along in the subconscious space in her mind. She was floating on her back, staring up into the empty void that was above her. There was no light up there, it just went on and on in darkness. She closed her eyes as she drifted along, but they were only closed for a few seconds before they opened again when the sound of a voice caught her attention.

"Haven't you done enough sleeping?" The voice said to her. The voice was rather bold and almost rude as it spoke to her. Minako turned herself so she was on her feet, and then she looked out in front of her. Standing before her was the blue haired boy that appeared to her when she was on the rooftop.

"Its' you…" Minako mumbled looking into the blue eyes of the boy before her. Minako's eyes shot open as she realized that she could now speak, whereas before she couldn't find any words. The boy began to float towards her, his hair hanging over one of his eyes and his hands resting in his pockets. "Who…who are you?" Minako asked him.

"I'm God. You're dead." The boy kept a straight face as he looked at Minako, who looked like she was about to cry. "Just kidding." A small smiled appeared on his face as Minako let out a deep sigh.

"Not funny…" She muttered, hanging her head.

"I'm here to help you." Minako raised her head and stared back into the eyes of the boy.

"Help me..?"

"Did I stutter?"

"For somebody that's supposed to be Mr. Helpful, you're kind of a jerk…" Minako let out a sigh.

"Anyways…here. Take this." The boy reached into a holster that was attached to his waist and pulled out a gun that was very similar to the one that Minako had used earlier. He tossed it to Minako. She caught it in both her hands and looked at it.

"How did you get this?" Minako asked. The boy let out a chuckle as a smile appeared on his face.

"It's a secret."

"Well…thanks I suppose. I'm not really sure what to do with it though…" Minako laughed awkwardly as she placed a hand on the back of her head. The boy facepalmed himself at her response.

"Do you not remember?!" He replied annoyed. Minako looked back to him, and then frowned.

"I remember Orpheus…and I remember seeing your face. You had the gun to your head and then the Orpheus's appeared and combined…after that it's all a blur. I don't remember passing out, or defeating the enemy."

"I see…so it still must be incredibly stressful on your mind…but you do remember summoning Orpheus?" Minako looked to the gun that was in her hand, and then a sudden flash of images appeared before her. She had one gun, and then two, both of them raised to her head. The next image was of the two Orpheus's, and then there was one. Next was the enemy they fought, and then the light from the sky crashing down on it. The final images were of Orpheus looking into her eyes and handing her the mask.

"I…I remember…I used this to summon her…" Minako mumbled. The boy walked up to her and took his hands out of his pockets.

"Keeping a persona out for a long period of time can have a very negative affect on your mind, it's better to summon them in short bursts, that way it reduces the stress. But in your case, even though your persona was only out for a short time, you were able to summon two at once. I imagine that's why you've been unconscious for so long, your mind just simply cracked under the pressure." Minako remained silent as she tried to comprehend all the information that was running through her mind. "I…I have faith in you though…" The boy turned his face away from her, a very saddened look appearing in his eyes. Minako approached the boy and stood next to him, trying to peer into his eyes. Before Minako could say anything, they boy turned to her and he threw both of his hands on her shoulders. "Do what I couldn't do! Use my power, and you will be able to duel wield persona's. It's the best I can do, and I know that you are the one who can do it."

"W-what are you talking about?" Minako asked rattled.

"Fulfill your destiny and live to see the ending. I'll be here at your side the entire way." Even though Minako was clueless as to what he was talking about, she could see the sincerity in his eyes and the smile on his face. Minako smiled at him, returning the same warm feeling. He held out his hand to her, and rested the other one back in his pocket. Minako extended her hand out to his, and when they locked hands, the boy disappeared in a flash of light. Minako looked around for the boy, but he was gone. What she did see however, was rather interesting. Floating in front of her was the card that had Orpheus drawn on it. Minako held out her hand to the card and pulled it towards her. She looked at the picture, and then turned the card around, looking at the backside. Covering the entire back of the card was a picture that had the blue haired boy on it. Under the picture was his name.

Minato Arisato.

* * *

Sorry for such a sort chapter, but i really wanted to focus on these two events and i feel as though if i put more events into this chapter than the focus would be take away from them. Makes sense right? Well i hope so, anyways, please review and lemme know whatcha think! Thanks!


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